U.S. patent application number 10/619101 was filed with the patent office on 2004-06-10 for method and system for secure, community profile generation and access via a communication system.
Invention is credited to Bursztein, Marcello, Irving, John, Lajeunesse, Patrick, Mulligan, Steve.
Application Number | 20040111423 10/619101 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32474251 |
Filed Date | 2004-06-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040111423 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Irving, John ; et
al. |
June 10, 2004 |
Method and system for secure, community profile generation and
access via a communication system
Abstract
The present invention is a method and system for monitoring and
filtering of data transmission to permit the creation of a secure
web-based "virtual meeting place" through which a scientist,
business person, educator or other individual can use the Internet
to link themselves or their group or student to others to work
collaboratively and create a shared environment. A community is
formed by having a person who is interested in participating in a
collaborative project or just exchanging data on a given subject
submit preliminary profile data to a digital storage center. The
data may contain a description of the project and a general
description of the of the collaboration level sought. A first
filter system is employed to ascertain, verify and control the
entrance of data to ensure the legitimacy of the entering party. A
profile is then crated and, in conjunction with a search engine,
the data storage center and other related locations are searched
for compatible profiles and a community is created. The system also
contains the capability of dynamic filtering and monitoring to
provide a safe and secure community and to increase the perceived
feeling of the nature of the community.
Inventors: |
Irving, John; (Ottowa,
CA) ; Bursztein, Marcello; (Ottowa, CA) ;
Mulligan, Steve; (Ottowa, CA) ; Lajeunesse,
Patrick; (Ottowa, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
JAMES D. FORNARI, ESQ
SUITE 3-A
1020 PARK AVENUE
NEW YORK
NY
10028
US
|
Family ID: |
32474251 |
Appl. No.: |
10/619101 |
Filed: |
July 14, 2003 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60395406 |
Jul 13, 2002 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 ;
707/999.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/100 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/00 |
Claims
We claim:
1. An apparatus for community generation by monitoring and
filtering data transmission to screen unwanted material comprising
a community filter means to permit qualified individuals to join a
specific community, profile creation means to describe each
qualified individual, a hierarchical infrastructure for initially
screening data to create a varying degrees of accessibility to
input data, a dynamic search engine to permit those members of the
community to search the data initially screened within the limit
permitted by the hierarchical infrastructure, a dynamic filter
controlled by a central location to permit monitoring and filtering
of the data transmitted and structuring of the infrastructure and a
flagging filter component to scan messages and data prior to
delivery.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Collaborative effort has the capability of helping to
enhance virtually every endeavor, be it in the education field,
business or dissemination of ideas. However, sharing information
was often a difficult process. People could be thousands of miles
apart and the transmittal of data could take days or weeks. The
ability for collaborators to talk could be hampered by the cost or
possible total absence of telecommunication facilities to permit
the interaction. Finding partners with whom to share information
was time-consuming and depended on the ability to conduct a search
to locate people interested in the same topic.
[0002] Similarly, in a business context, it was always important
for individuals working on similar projects to confer and exchange
ideas. However, this often required meetings document exchanges
and, if the project was of a technical nature, possible duplication
of effort and facilities. Creating any form of collaboration
required time, effort and follow up on leads to create a community
of participants who wanted to converse or exchange ideas. Although
the process was laborious, there was little alternative.
[0003] Universities and some high tech companies saw the need to
facilitate such information transfer and created the seeds of what
is now the Internet. Technology and information transfer have
enhanced the collaborative effort of businesses, schools and
government and permitted data to be obtained by virtually everyone
for use in their every day life. As a part of this shared
experience, chat rooms and other focus groups have emerged on the
information highway. The exchange of information has proliferated
and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish what is valid
information from what is unverified and incorrect data.
[0004] It is also important to permit individuals to create their
own "shared environment" where they can meet with others who have
similar interests and exchange information in a secure manner.
While this is particularly critical to business, it is equally
important to individuals. Businesses would not want competitors to
know of their activities any more than individuals who are sharing
information would not want random people to gain access to that
"shared environment". It is thus important to create a blind but
accessible pool which contains both public and private information
and to permit individuals who are searching for a collaborative
environment controlled access to the pool. The greater is the
number of participants, the more enriched is the discussion and
general information transfer. The creation of shared environments
and relationships among the participants over the Internet permits
expansion of the initial collaboration into other areas, as the
interaction progresses, while still keeping the overall community
secure. In order to effectively achieve this goal it is necessary
to create both the pool or global community, make it secure and
permit it to be searched for common interests.
DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD AND SYSTEM
[0005] The method and system for monitoring and filtering of
electronic data transmission permits the creation of a secure
"virtual meeting place" through which a scientist, business person,
educator or other individual can use the Internet to link
themselves or their group or students to others to work
collaboratively and create a "shared environment". A community is
formed by having a person who in interested in participating in a
collaborative project or just exchange information on a given
subject submit preliminary profile data to a digital data storage
center. The data generally contains a description of the project
interest, the general level of information sought to be exchanged
and general information about the person who is seeking to either
create or join a group. A first filter system is employed to
ascertain and control the entrance of data in order to ensure that
the entering party is actually a valid participant and someone who
is should be part of the community and its blind pool. Once a
prospective participant is validated, the participant specific
material is entered into the community creation data base, along
with any project specific inquiries. The data is then compiled and
stored.
[0006] The participant can create an account which is globally
accessible within the community and is intended to describe the
participant's group or project profile. The participant also has
the option of making the profile public or not. If it is not
public, then the participant will maintain an individual profile
and project rather than a group profile. A participant can also
create and maintain multiple profiles so that they can participate
in multiple projects, either which they are creating or which they
wish to be a part of. The multiple profile generation and storage
creates a community which is larger than the mere number of
physical participants. The information coming into each account may
be filtered through a multi-level security filter that defines
different levels of control.
[0007] Once the participant is accepted into the data storage
system, a search engine permits them to search anywhere within the
data storage system's world of "profiles" for compatible projects,
profiles or "shared environments". The participant can, using the
search engine, plan collaborative Internet activities in a "shared
learning" context. They can permit the participant to go "on-line"
to link to other groups to work collaboratively to further enrich
any topic within the community. By permitting participant to create
multiple profiles, it allows the creation of a large on-line
community with multiple "shared environments".
[0008] Although dynamic filtering may not be necessary in certain
"shared environments", the ability to have some filtering and
monitoring can further enhance the perceived safe and secure nature
of the community. The system may also permit security to be
controlled from a centralized location as a function of the
particular "shared environment" that is created, before the
information is passed to the to a network and to the particular
"shared environment". The filtering level component permits each
project group within the network to be monitored to a degree that
is participant designated and appropriate for the various members
of the "environment". The system is designed to permit an accepted
participant who may have been designated as the monitor for the
"shared environment" to receive a copy of messages that are sent or
received in an account. The flagging filter component of the system
will scan each message sent or received for words that are on a
master flagged word list which is participant designated. If a word
on the master flagged word list is found in the message, the
message is routed to the monitor's account and will not be released
until it is reviewed and its delivery or transmittal is
authorized.
EXAMPLE APPLICATIONS
[0009] The applications for profile generation and "shared
environment" creation go beyond the interaction of two individuals
or even two groups. They permit searches to be conducted to create
sub-communities and common interest groups. They allow security
within the "shared environment", while still permitting new
participants to join. They also allow sharing of work among the
participants, according to their expressed desires and submitted
profiles.
Example 1
[0010] Interface Profiles
[0011] A "Personal Profile" may be modified to also have "Personal
Information" in the profile submitted. The personal profile can be
accessed generally or can have sub-categories for access purposes.
It can have a public profile or a group profile. It can also have a
project profile which does not contain personal information other
than a blind contact. By way of example, the following can be a
typical profile generation for use in conjunction with the search
engine:
[0012] Class profile
[0013] In the profile creation interface, a pull down is added
similar to access levels:
[0014] Make my profile accessible to users within:
[0015] Do not share profile
[0016] $groupname *
[0017] $environmentname
[0018] $resellername **
[0019] Global Community
[0020] *--Does not appear if there's only one entity in the
license
[0021] **--Can default to designated entity for those without
another reseller
[0022] Moderation
[0023] Every submitted profile must be approved by administrators
who are responsible for community before they go live. Community
profiles can make profiles live immediately upon creation if their
access is something which has been pre-approved via another
administrator or because it has been a part of the community
previously.
[0024] If the profile is new, it is handled by a screening process
and the creation of a blind reply mode following approval.
[0025] Search
[0026] Within the interface, "Search only my community" checkbox
may be replaced by a pull-down with the same values given in "Class
profile" above.
[0027] Searches are limited to the indicated community division and
below.
[0028] The default value is can be designated as "Global".
[0029] Searches on the server site only find profiles with global
access or in within a reseller community.
Example 2
[0030] Personal Profiles
[0031] Users can create class/or personal profiles. Personal
profiles need contain only a subset of the information currently
stored with a class profile.
Example 3
[0032] Customized Profile Options/Search Results
[0033] Users will be able to identify particular labels to be
associated with the profile. Search pulls its values from the same
choices. These labels are defined in the administration interface.
This would allow them to add phone number, for example.
[0034] Administrators will be able to determine what fields show up
in search results for profiles within their community. This would
allow them to add email address or telephone, for example, or
remove the city field in case they're all in the same one. Found
approved profiles will have the common fields and the same as have
defined above.
Example 4
[0035] Administrator Control/Moderation
[0036] New profile preferences pages can have the following
options, among others:
[0037] Administrators can indicate whether users can create
personal and or group profiles and if so, at what level they can be
accessed. The profile interface access pull-down then reflects the
possibilities the administrator has chosen.
[0038] Administrators can indicate whether profiles need to be
approved (by them or another administrator) before they go live or
not.
[0039] Administrators can indicate whether users will be able to
find profiles outside of their community.
Example 5
[0040] Profile Moderation
[0041] The system can provide interface/functionality to allow
assigned users to moderate profiles. It can also provide
interface/functionality to allow assigned users to deactivate
existing profiles.
Example 6
[0042] Multilingual Descriptions/Titles
[0043] The system will permit participants to have the option of
entering their profile in any supported language. This can be done
manually or using instant translation. When searching, users can
indicate that they wish to search for the entered term in a
particular language or all languages.
Example 7
[0044] Multiple Profiles
[0045] The system will permit additional interfaces to allow the
creation/management of multiple profiles for any given participant,
which will permit expansion of the community beyond the mere number
of participants.
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